New to Roon

[Will]

Thnx! Very helpful as I am also an absolute novice with Roon. Just starting to see if I can get it running. Just found out my iPad is too old, so not sure how I will manage at the moment. Not feeling like buying a new iPad just to try out Roon and Air.

You don't need an iPad (or similar IOS or Android device - you can run Roon from a mobile (cell) phone). You can run Roon directly from your PC.  The iPad or similar, is extremely useful if your PC that has Roon loaded is located in another room.

iPad is pretty valuable for me, as my pc is two floors up in my study. NAS isn't powerful enough, and also in another room. To make it work I need to run a computer 24/7 and buy a new iPad as remote? Right? Laptop is not an option, as that travels with me to work and only has wifi.  

I have my NAS (connected to the router) and main computer (laptop) in a separate room (the computer is on wifi).  You only need to have the computer running when you want to listen to music via Roon - it takes a couple of minutes at most, to start up and load Roon (once it is set up).  (You can also use your computer for other things while Roon is running - it might impact on sound quality)  I have connected my Devialet via Ethernet - using a power line extender - it is much more reliable for me than wifi.  Is it that you have got an older version of iPad that will not run the Roon App?  You don't have to have a dedicated iPad as a remote - again you can use your iPad for other things while Roon is running - and that will have no impact on SQ.  I often use my iPad for other things while listening to music - while using the Roon App to select the music and control the volume etc.

You could use your laptop